


Puzzled

by Shadadukal



Category: Farscape
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-21
Updated: 2007-04-21
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadadukal/pseuds/Shadadukal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set early season 1, definitely after "Exodus from Genesis".</p><p>Written for the 15th Starburst Challenge at Terra Firma. "Your story should involve at least one character we know, and an object from Earth."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Puzzled

**Author's Note:**

> Beta: Eirenne from Terra Firma.

"Frell", Aeryn thought as she tossed and turned on her bed, in her cell aboard Moya. She was a Peacekeeper, disciplined. She should be able to sleep when she wanted. But something in her mind kept her unable to find rest. She shouldn't be disturbed by such trivial curiosity. She got up for a glass of water before going back to bed, hoping it would help her sleep.

But all she could do was lie there, completely awake. Finally she reached the end of her patience and threw her bed covers aside, deciding to use the cover of the night to satisfy her curiosity. Now that she thought about it, that was really the best solution. If she wanted to have a look at it, it was better to do that while he was asleep than to ask him about it or have him find her in his quarters looking for it.

She slipped on some sweat pants before leaving her room silently. She walked quietly to his room. He hadn't bothered with putting a privacy curtain up so she could see he was lying on his bed, snoring lightly.

She palmed the door opened and slid in his room. She stepped around the bed carefully and silently. She looked on the table where he kept some of his possessions. There it was! She picked it up quickly and brought it to eye-level.

*

He woke up suddenly, aware he wasn't alone in his room anymore. He had been sleeping lightly ever since he'd come aboard Moya. He squinted in the darkness. With his eyes still full of sleep, he palmed the lights on and realized it was Aeryn who was standing here, her back to him.

*

She jumped a bit as the lights came on. Focused on the object, she hadn't heard him shuffling in his bed.

She turned on her heels, hiding what she was holding behind her back.

He was sitting in his bed, blinking at her.

"Aeryn, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"I was just…"

She stopped, not wanting to admit why she had come here.

His eyes narrowed as he watched her.

"What are you hiding behind your back?" he said suspiciously, starting to rise from the bed.

"Noth…" she started to say, but she stopped.

Suddenly, she brought her hand back to the front.

*

Standing in front of Aeryn, he watched as his father's puzzle ring swung on the chain Aeryn held tightly in her fist.

He looked at her face. Staring right back at him, she said:

"I wanted to know what was so special about this object that it managed to confuse two Peacekeeper commandos."

Examining it, she added:

"It doesn't look like a weapon at all."

"No, it doesn't, and it isn't."

He extended his hand and took hold of the ring. Aeryn released her grip on the chain.

*

Crichton stepped closer to her, holding the curious ring in front of him. She watched intently as he showed her how to take it apart and put it back together. Looking back into his face, she asked:

"And the point of this is…"

"Err, well,..."

*

He stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts.

"The ring in itself doesn't really have a point but what matters is what it stands for. It is a rarity for humans to go into space. This ring was given to my father by the first human to go in space. And my father is one of very few humans who have walked on the Moon. The ring's supposed to bring you luck…if you believe in it."

*

Humans really were strange creatures. How could a simple ring change a course of events? It didn't make any sense. But then, Crichton hadn't been making much sense since he had come aboard.

She averted her eyes from his piercing blue gaze and looked back down at the ring he still held in his hands.

His white shorts caught her eyes and her gaze wandered lower. These were not like Peacekeeper shorts, and not only because of the color. They were not as tight as Peacekeeper shorts and actually seemed to be more comfortable. They also outlined his…

"Aeryn?"

*

Aeryn had broken eye contact to look back at the ring. But he somehow got the feeling she wasn't looking at the ring anymore but lower… at his crotch.

"Aeryn?" he called.

She looked back up instantly.

"Err…" he began, not knowing what to say.

"It looks different," she interrupted him.

"What?" he choked out, his voice rising.

She looked at him with that what-is-wrong-with-the-human-now look of hers.

"Peacekeeper underwear is black and tighter," she said, staring straight at him.

"Oh, err… the shorts, right" he babbled, aware he was probably blushing furiously.

*

What was wrong with the human now? Her curiosity about the ring satisfied, she felt very tired all of a sudden and she knew she would be able to sleep if she got back to bed.

"I'll leave now," she said bluntly, waving for him to stop blocking the way to the door.

*

He stepped quickly out of the way as Aeryn waved at him. She would have to step on the bed to get back out of his room if he didn't move.

She brushed against him as she passed. His breath caught and he forgot to breathe for a moment.

Before he could stop himself, he called after her:

"Hey, Aeryn."

She pivoted on her heels in one smooth motion and fixed her gray eyes on him.

"Good night," he finished.

She seemed to think for a moment and then replied:

"Good night…Crichton."

She was gone before he could utter another word.

With a sigh, he walked towards the door and closed it. He sat down on his bed, looking at his father's ring that he had kept in his hand. God, how much he missed Earth and his family. He put the ring around his neck. He slipped under the covers again as his thoughts strayed towards Aeryn. He didn't quite know what to make of her yet. He had the others quite figured out, or at least, he thought so. But Aeryn… He couldn't get the image of her trying to make him promise to kill her out of his head. She had looked so vulnerable. It was so much in contrast with the tough warrior image she projected almost constantly that he didn't know how to reconcile the two. He yawned and felt his eyelids droop. He was so very tired. He needed rest. Who knew what the universe would throw at him the next day?


End file.
